October 1st was a lovely day, and I decided I wanted to get out of the house. That usually means heading to the "Slide Park" so Henlie can work off some of her energy and we get a nice little walk in. With two kids on my own, I typically put Henlie in the stroller and Andrew in the wrap. However, the wrap is less than comfortable (okay, not the wrap itself, rather having a baby on my chest :)) and it gets hot and sweaty wearing it. Then if I have to nurse him, I have to pull him out. (I know some people can nurse while baby wearing, but I am not one of them.) Instead, we tried something new. I reclined the stroller and put Andrew in it. Realistically, he's still a little small for it, but he did okay. I just wish it had a three-point harness. I think it would have helped. Anyway, I put Henlie's leash backpack on her (packed with some snacks, of course) and made her walk. She had walked to this park before, so I knew she could do it. I used the leash backpack just to make sure she didn't run away from me or run into the road on the way there and back, since I couldn't really leave Andrew on his own if something were to happen, either.
Andrew fell asleep on the way there (bonus!). This was actually one concern of mine for having Henlie walk...what if I could have gotten her to nap on the way home in the stroller? Alas, she has gotten really good at staying awake, so I thought my odds weren't that good and went ahead with my plan. Let me tell you, best. idea. ever! It was so much more pleasant to walk without the extra weight. Henlie held onto the stroller (because otherwise she didn't keep up and I didn't want to pull her along by the leash because she'd fall down that way).
We lucked out and it wasn't too crowded, but Henlie camped out in the tunnel for awhile and wouldn't play. Even when everyone else left, she only just started to play.
She did eventually play a little. She really warmed up when some older kids came over. She ran right over and hung out with them in the shade under the slides. Some of them knew a little English, so they asked her what her name was. She told them, but in fairness, it sounds like "Henny," and "Henlie" isn't really a well-known name, so they ended up calling her "Jenny." lol They loved playing with her, though. And she most definitely loved playing with them.
And then, they were leaving and the playground was emptying once again. We followed suit and headed home. I did apply sunscreen to all of us, but the back of my neck still got a little burned, and Andrew got a touch sun-kissed as well. Nothing too bad for either of us, though.
